Could Terawan be one of the Ministers on the Reshuffle List?

Menteri Kesehatan Terawan Agus Putranto (Wardhany Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - The reshuffle of the Onward Indonesia Cabinet issue continued to roll. Particularly, after President Joko Widodo admitted to being upset with his ministers. Several ministers are deemed not working optimally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them is the Minister of Health, Terawan Agus Putranto, who is responsible for the health sector.

Some parties then suspected Terawan would be included on the reshuffle list. 

"Terawan's position is vulnerable," said the political observer from Al-Azhar University of Indonesia, Ujang Komarudin, when contacted by VOI, Tuesday, June 30.

There are several reasons that make Ujang sure that Terawan will be included in the hot seat. First one is based on Jokowi's statement. He said several ministers aren't working optimally despite the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Minister of Health's work is mediocre. There is nothing to be proud of its performance, both in the eyes of Jokowi and the public," he said.

The Ministry of Health has already been highlighted twice due to insignificant absorption of the budget.

The first highlight came during a cabinet meeting speech held on June 18. Jokowi first expressed his emotions towards his ministers. The realization of the health management budget was still very small from the total budget of IDR 75 trillion.

"The health sector is budgeted IDR 75 trillion and only 1.53% of it came out. The money circulating in the community is jammed there," Jokowi said in a video on the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat, Sunday, June 28.

11 days later, Jokowi again quipped Terawan. In a limited meeting to accelerate the COVID-19 handling, Jokowi demanded the health sector to move quickly. One of them is by accelerating the payment of reimbursements for health services.

"This is accelerating the disbursement. There must be no complaints. For example, the deceased must immediately receive compensation assistance," Jokowi said in a meeting aired on YouTube's Presidential Secretariat, Monday, June 29.

Jokowi demanded the Ministry of Health not to apply rules with long-winded and complicated procedures. He said all the rules must be simplified.

He also asked that payment of hospital claims must be done immediately. Including, the payment of incentives for medical and laboratory personnel must be carried out quickly. "What are we waiting for? The budget is already there," Jokowi said.

Back to Ujang. There's another thing that made him sure Terawan would be included on the reshuffle list. Terawan was not invited by Jokowi to make a working visit to Central Java.

"President Jokowi went to Central Java to monitor the handling of COVID-19. But the Minister of Health was not invited. Even though it was the leading sector of the Minister of Health. Other ministers participated, but the Minister of Health was not invited," Ujang said.

President Joko Widodo paid a working visit to several places in Central Java Province on Tuesday, 30 June. One of them was the COVID-19 handling post at Gradhika Bhakti Praja Building, Central Java Governor's Office Complex.

During the visit, several ministers joined the visit, such as Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Erick Thohir; Cabinet Secretary, Pramono Anung; Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) as well as Chair of the Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling, Doni Monardo; Head of the President Secretariat, Heru Budi Hartono; and other names

While Terawan filled the Bung Karno Month Commemoration Webinar 2020 organized by the PDIP Central Training and Education Agency. In the event, the former Head of RSPAD Gatot Subroto said several things. One of them is related to the use of telemedicine and modern medicines native to Indonesia.

Reflecting on the situation, Ujang considered that Terawan would become one of the ministers who would be replaced by President Jokowi.

"So at this time the Minister of Health Terawan could be reshuffled. Moreover, he has no backup of political parties," he said.

"If he isn't on the list, that means there are other factors. But if the measure is based on the performance, then the Minister of Health's position is vulnarable. Other factors, like political factors, only known by Jokowi," said the Executive Director of the Indonesian Political Review.

Defended by Colleagues and Partners

The realization of budget expenditures that were too small were responded by his colleague, Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani; and his partner, the Commission IX of the Indonesian Parliament.

Sri Mulyani said that the low budget realization wasn't solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes). The low absorption of the budget could occur because of the long disbursement process that had to be done in stages.

"So in this case, there are those who perceive that the new health budget has been disbursed a little. As if it were only the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Actually, no," she said in a virtual press conference entitled 'Indonesia's Latest Economic Conditions and the Late 2020 Projection', Tuesday, 30 June.

According to Sri Mulyani, not all of the health budget was channeled through the Ministry of Health. The budget is also channeled through the national and regional COVID-19 task force. There is also a tax incentive to hospitals that handle pandemics.

"Some are in the task force's place, some are in the Ministry of Health's place. There are also those that we provide in the form of handling for BPJS Health. So they can afford to pay for hospitals," she explained.

Furthermore, the steps in the health sector are a shared responsibility. This means it isn't only the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. But also the national and regional task forces.

Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission IX, Melki Laka Lena, also commented on Jokowi's statement. According to him, the rebuke was inappropriate and must be corrected.

"The President's reprimand for the small realization of the COVID-19 handling budget in the health sector, which is only 1.53% of the total IDR 75 trillion, must be placed in the right context," Melki said.

Moreover, from a report received by the House of Representatives Commission IX, it was mentioned that the budget for COVID-19 handling in the health sector had increased from IDR 75 trillion to IDR 87.55 trillion.

"Of the total health sector budget, the Ministry of Health proposed a budget of IDR 54.56 trillion. Only IDR 25.73 trillion was approved by the Ministry of Finance," he said.

The details are for the prevention and control of COVID-19. Including IDR 1.503 trillion for the provision of screening tests, IDR 33.53 billion for COVID-19 laboratory services, IDR 21.86 trillion for health services, and 136 billion for affirmations and medical devices. Then, IDR 1.96 trillion for the empowerment of human resources (HR) and IDR 229.75 billion for public health.

Of the total budget, IDR 1.96 trillion was included in the Ministry of Health's budget implementation (DIPA) list with a realization of 17.6%. It consists of IDR 331.29 billion for incentives for central health workers and IDR 14.1 billion for compensation for the death of health workers.

While the remaining IDR 23.77 trillion is currently still in the process of revision of the DIPA from the Ministry of Finance. "This means that this budget has not yet entered the Ministry of Health's DIPA. So, it cannot be realized," said the Golkar Party politician.

In addition, the COVID-19 handling budget outside the amount of IDR 25.73 trillion is as much as IDR 61.82 trillion. It is managed through the Ministry of Finance's State General Treasury Budget Agency (BA BUN) and also the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).